Kogonada’s $60M ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ Is R-Rated, Skipping Fests, and Already Raising Eyebrows

Earlier this year, Sony moved Kogonada’s “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” from its original May 9 release to September 19, 2025—a change that felt like a hint toward a fall festival premiere, TIFF the obvious candidate.

Now, it looks like the film is skipping festivals entirely. I just got it confirmed that it’s not going to Telluride either. Kind of puzzling given Kogonada’s pedigree, and how the film is positioned, conveniently, so close to those fests.

Sony has had a rough summer, with “28 Years Later” carrying the studio’s box office, and marketing for Kogonada’s latest has been… minimal at best. The campaign barely exists, giving the impression they might be quietly dumping it.

The first trailer we saw back in June promised the usual Kogonada visual poetry, with Benjamin Loeb (“Mandy”) behind the camera. Plot-wise, though, it leaned sugary and mawkish, and the just-released new trailer doesn’t seem to do much to change that impression.

I recently spoke to a critic who saw the film, and they told me that Sony’s lack of enthusiasm makes sense after having seen the final product. Did I also mention the film cost $60M, and for some reason, just got R rated? Any chance at wide accessibility is diminished by that rating.

Despite A-list leads Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, the film has gone eerily quiet since wrapping in June 2024. Multiple test screenings have produced mixed reactions, and the story—two strangers meeting at a wedding, then embarking on a GPS-guided, time-bending journey filled with romance and existential twists—has been described as “an imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them.”

Written by “The Menu” scribe Seth Reiss, the film carries Kogonada’s signature contemplative style, though “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” might feel more like a misstep compared to “Columbus” or even “After Yang.”